Mailbox signal



G. W CLARK MAILBOX SIGNAL July 16, 1968 Filed NOV. 15, 1966 United States Patent 3,392,911 MAILBOX SIGNAL George W. Clark, Peterson, Iowa 51047 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 462,550, June 9, 1965. This application Nov. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 594,511

6 Claims. (Cl. 232-35) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mailbox having a door pivotal between open and closed positions and a signal member secured to the side of the box and adapted to move between and up and down positions and when in an up position a latch means carried on the signal member engages frictionally the outside surface of the smooth flange on the door thereby assisting in maintaining the door in a closed condition and the signalling means in an up position. Upon the door being opened the signalling means moves to a down position out of engagement with the door.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of my co-pending application, Ser. No. 462,550, filed June 9, 1965, now Patent No. 3,301,475.

The mailman is greatly handicapped by the conventional mailbox in not knowing whether there is mail to be picked up.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a mailbox which will definitely indicate to the mailman through a trouble-free signalling device that there is outgoing mail in the box to be picked up.

A further object of this invention is to provide a mailbox having a signalling device which is held in an up position by the door of the mailbox and upon opening the door of the mailbox the signalling device moves to a down position.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a mailbox having a signalling device which is provided with a latch means for engaging the outer smooth edge of the door to thereby frictionally hold the signalling device in its up position and hold the door in its closed position in mating engagement with the mailbox.

Another related object of this invention is to provide a signalling device having a latch means which frictionally engages the outside surface of the flange on the mailbox door which in turn is in mating engagement with the adjacent side wall of the mailbox.

Yet another related object of this invention is to provide a signalling device having a latch means which f-rictionally engages the outside surface of the flange on the mailbox door and upon the signalling device beginning to move downwardly the latch means moves upwardly to a point adjacent and spaced from the arcuate end of the door thereby quickly reducing the frictional forces between the latch means and the door whereby the door may be easily opened.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a mailbox having a signalling arm which includes a first portion for pivoting the signalling arm to the mailbox and a second portion oflset outwardly from the plane of the first portion and from the box extending outwardly from the first portion and a latch means secured to the second portion adjacent its connection to the first portion.

A further object of this invention is to provide a mailbox signal which is simple in design, economical to manufacture and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the de- 3,392,911 Patented July 16, 1968 ice vice, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the mailbox in its closed position with the signalling device in its up position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective fragmentary view of the mailbox with the door in its opened position, the signalling device in its down position, and the mailholder unit in its position of use holding letters for pickup by a mailman; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the mailholder unit after the letters have been removed and the unit has moved to its collapsed position against the mailbox door and thereby eliminating any obstruction to the placing of incoming mail into the mailbox.

The mailbox of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 as including a conventional box 10 having a door 12. A signalling unit 14 is mounted on one side of the box 10 and a letter holding unit 16 is secured to the inside face of the door 12.

The door 12 is provided with a flange 18 which is adapted to matingly engage the outer surface of the box 10. A handle 26 is provided on the outer side of the door 12 for pivoting the door on a hinge 22 connecting the door to the lower front of the box 10.

The signal unit 14 includes a pair of arms 24 and 26 disposed at degrees to each other and are pivotally secured to the side of the box 10 by a bracket 28. The arm 24 has an outer portion 29 provided with a flag 30 on its outer free end and a latch plate element 32 on its inner end. The inner end is integrally connected to an inwardly oflset portion 34 which is pivotally connected to the bracket 28. The arm 26 is provided with a counterweight 36 on its outer free end while the inner free end is pivotally connected to the bracket 28 is adapted to bear against the lower end of a vertical portion 31 of the bracket to limit its downward pivotal movement as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. As seen in FIG. 1, the inner end 34 of the signal arm 24 is adapted to bear against the upper end of the vertical portion 31 to limit the forward pivotal movement of the signal unit 14.

As seen in FIG. 1, the signal unit 14 is held in its operative position of use by the latch 32 frictionally engaging the outer smooth side of the flange 18 on the door 12 and thereby additionally assist in holding the door 12 in its closed position by forcing the flange 18 into frictional engagement with the adjacent outer surface of the box 10. It is seen that upon opening the door 12 against the frictional action of the latch 32, the counterweight 36 causes the signalling unit 14 to pivot to its down position of FIGS. 2 and 3.

As the signal member or unit 14 begins to pivot rearwardly away from the door 12 the plate latch element 32 moves upwardly out of engagement with the smooth side flange 18 into the area of the rounded end 38 of the mailbox door 12 which thereby spaces the latch plate element 32 from the flange 18. Accordingly, the frictional forces between the plate element 32 and the flange 18 are almost instantaneously reduced upon a slight pivotal movement of the signal member 14 and thus the door 12 may be easily and quickly opened. At the same time, when the door is closed the frictional forces are substantial to assist in maintaining the door in its closed condition and hold the signal unit 14 in its up position.

The letter holding unit 16 is shown and described in detail in my co-pendnig application, Ser. No. 462,550. It is seen that upon opening the door 12 to its horizontal position of FIGS. 2 and 3 that the letter holding unit 16 is exposed and extends outwardly Within easy reach of the mailman, a letter 40. The letter holding device 16 includes a channel-shaped base portion 42 which is secured by bolts 44 to the inside surface of the box door 12. A downwardly facing channel member 46 is pivotally connected by a pin 48 to the inner end of the base channel member 42 and a spring (not shown) is provided on the pin 48 to normally bias the channel member 46 downwardly towards the door 12.

A latc'h plate 52 is pivotally connected to the outer end of the base member 42 and is adapted to pivot to a substantially perpendicular position as shown in FIG. 2 wherein its outer free end engages the under side of the arm 46.

On the outer end, on the upper surface of the arm 46, a jaw or mouse trap type wire spring member 60 is provided and is pivotally connected to the member 46. A spring 64 is mounted on "a pin extending through the free ends of the wire clamp 60' to hold the clamp 60 in a normally down position engaging the top surface of the arm 46.

Thus it is seen that as the mailman approaches the mailbox he will be immediately notified that there is mail to be picked up if the flag 30 is in its raised position of FIG. 1. Accordingly, when he opens the door 12 to its position of FIGS. 2 and 3 he will find a letter or the like 40 held outside of the box by the letter holder unit 16 mounted on the lid 12. As he lifts the letter 40 from between the clamps 60 and the arm 46, he will raise the arm 46 such that the latch 52 may fall down against the member 42 and thus permit the arm 46 to fall to the position in FIG. 3. Now, the inside of the box 10 is fully exposed and he may insert letters 70 and packages 72 as shown in FIG. 3, without any obstruction whatsoever. It is apparent therefore that the inconvenience of reaching into the rear of the mailbox to obtain outgoing mail has been completely eliminated and instead the letters to 'be picked up are conveniently placed within easy reach.

It is to be stressed that both the signalling unit 14 and the letter holding device 16 are for the benefit of the mailman as the signalling unit lets the mailman know that he has mail to pick up and the letter holding unit 16 facilitates the eflicient handling and pickup of the outgoing mail and moreover readily permits incoming mail to be placed in the box 10.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my mailbox signal without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. A mailbox, comprising,

a unit having a door hingedly connected to one end and adapted to pivot between a vertical closed position to a horizontal open position, said door having a smooth flange extending along at least one side and adapted to matingly engage an adjacent side of said box,

a signal member pivotally secured to the side of said box and adapted to move from an up position to a down position,

latch means carried by said signal member for releasably engaging said door when said signal member is in said up position, said latch means only frictionally bearing against said outside surface of said smooth flange for holding said door in its closed position and said signal member in its up position,

said latch means carried by said signal member being adapted to be disengaged from said door upon said door being pivoted to said open position whereby said signal member is moved to its down position,

and means for limiting the pivotal movement of said signal member forwardly towards and with said door, means for normally yieldably pivoting said signal member rearwardly of said door when said signal is in said up position whereby said signal is pivoted to said down position upon said door being moved to said open position and said latch being disengaged from said outside surface of said smooth flange, said signal member is L-shaped and includes a signal arm and counterweight arm and said signal member being pivotally connected to said box at the juncture of said pair of arms, said means for normally yieldably pivoting said signal member rearwardly of said door is further defined as being said counterweight arm, and said latch means being a plate element secured to said signal arm and extending in the opposite direction of said signal arm from said counterweight arm, said signal member being arranged for said signal arm to extend upwardly and said counterweight arm horizontally away from said door when said signal member is in its up position, and

said signal arm includes a first portion for pivoting said signal member to said box, a second portion ofiset outwardly from the plane of said first portion and from said box extending outwardly from said first portion, and said latch means plate element being secured to said second portion adjacent its connection to said first portion.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said latch means plate element is positioned in a plane between the plane of each of said first and second portions of said signal arm.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said door has an arouate outer end and straight sides, said smooth flange extending along said one side and around said arcuate outer end, and said latch means plate element being positioned to engage said flange closely adjacent said arcuate end of said door whereby as said signal member pivots rearwardly away from said door said plate element moves outwardly along said smooth flange on the side of said door to a point adjacent and spaced from said arcuate end of said door thereby frictionally disengaging said latch means plate element from said smooth flange.

4-. The structure of claim 1 wherein means is provided for limiting the downward pivotal movement of said signal member to a position with said signal arm extending horizontally rearwardly along said box and said counterweight arm extending vertically downward-1y.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein said means for limiting the pivotal movement of said signal member forwardly and said means for limiting the downward pivotal movement of said signal member are further defined as a bracket secured to said mailbox and having a vertically disposed portion positioned bewteen said door and the axis of pivotal movement of said signal member, said vertical portion extending above and below the axis of pivotal movement of said door for engagement with said signal arm and when said signal member is in said up .position and for engagement with said counterweight arm when said signal member is in said down position.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein said bracket includes a rearwardly extending portion from said vertical portion and extending over the juncture of said pair of arms, and a pin interconnecting said signal member at the juncture of said pair of arms to said rearwardly extending portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 932,287 8/1909 Jones 232- 1,199,581 9/1916 Lu'ckett 232-35 1,480,452 1/1924 Kolstad 23234 2,421,603 6/1947 Doppelhammer 23235 2,681,762 6/1954 Long et a1. 23235 2,834,540 5/1958 H-udgins 232-35 FRANCIS K. ZU GEL, Primary Examiner. 

